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Warwickshire look to bounce back

Donald to rekindle spirit of the 1990s

Cricinfo staff

April 1, 2008

	Happier days: Allan Donald with his captain, Dermot Reeve, when Warwickshire lifted the Championship in 1995 © Getty Images

Allan Donald, the former South Africa fast bowler, is determined to rekindle Warwickshire's winning spirit of the 1990s which made them such a force in county cricket. Donald has been persuaded back to the club by their director of cricket, Ashley Giles, and although his official title is bowling coach, he will effectively be the first-team coach.

Donald spurned the opportunity to become England's full-time bowling coach after a brief stint last year, and in spite of a number of media offers he is delighted to be back at Warwickshire.

"For me, it really doesn't get any better than this," he told The Birmingham Post. "I'm excited to be working with Ash, to be working with the first team and to be back at Edgbaston.

"To be honest with you, I wouldn't have taken the England job even if this role at Warwickshire hadn't come up. Working with the England team was fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed it and feel I made a positive impact and, I have to say, the ECB were brilliant. They are a highly professional organisation and, in many ways, everything about the job was great.

"But I'd been on the road for years. At some stage you have to put the family first. I want to see my children grow up. The thing with the media side is you still have to do the travelling. Besides, I'm more at home in tracksuit and shorts than I am with microphone and tie."

Warwickshire have suffered two dreadful seasons, despite having - on paper at least - a number of gifted players on their books. Last season, they crashed to the bottom of the Pro40 league and were relegated to the second division of the Championship.

"It's difficult when a team has been hammered for a couple of years. But there is a good spirit emerging and I'd like to think the team will have that cockiness you need by the start of the season. I was around enough last season to see how low people were. That decision to leave Ian Bell out of the side for the C&G semi-final was ridiculous but they are a good bunch and you can feel spirits rising already.

"There was a great spirit with those teams in the past at Warwickshire. We laughed a lot. We enjoyed each other's company. It meant something to play for the team. You don't get that everywhere and it is a special club. We want to get that back."

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